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Parallel Structure
Summary Duncan and Roderick talk about parallel structure. Transcript (Duncan is looking at something on his computer, and for some reason he is crying hysterically) Duncan: No! No! How could they do this? (Roderick comes up to Duncan) Roderick: Whoa, what's wrong, buddy? I haven't seen you this upset since the end of Toy Story 3. Duncan: Look. (Duncan points to an article he's been reading on a website. The title reads "GoReal TV Cancels TRHoV". Jeremy reads the article) Roderick: The GoReal TV Network is cancelling "The Real Husbands of Vancouver", its most popular reality series. The show, which assembles the worst people from every other reality show, has become an embarrassment to the network, and to Canada in general. Duncan: I can't believe it. I can't believe that they're cancelling my favorite reality TV show. What am I going to do? Roderick: Maybe you could write a letter asking them to put the show back on the air. Duncan (happy): Awesome idea, Roderick! I'm gonna do that right now. (Duncan gets to work on his letter. Thirty seconds later, he prints it out) Roderick: Wow, that was fast. Let me take a look. (Roderick looks at Duncan's letter) Roderick: Hmm, this isn't bad, but it could benefit from the proper use of parallel structure. Caption: Parallel Structure Narrator: Today, Roderick and Duncan are going to explain how you should use parallelism in writing. Roderick: Parallel structure is when you repeat a particular pattern of words within a single sentence. It's an example of rhetorical device - a technique authors use to make their writing clearer, stronger, and more persuasive. Let's take a look at the beginning of Duncan's letter. Duncan wrote, "GoReal TV broke our hearts when it announced that it will be cancelling The Real Husbands of Vancouver. I know its viewers are angry, and you have ruined the whole summer." Let's try rephrasing that in parallel structure: "GoReal TV broke our hearts, ruined our summer, and angered its loyal viewers." See how that sentence is tighter and clearer than the original? Duncan: Well, I've tried to use parallel structure in places, but I think I've done it wrong. Roderick: Well, sort of. Like in this paragraph, you wrote that, "The Real Husbands is funny, exciting, and entertainment." When you write in parallel structure, all the parts of speech in the list have to match. "Funny" and "exciting" are both adjectives - but "entertainment" is a noun. So the sentence is gramatically incorrect. Instead, it should be "funny, exciting, and entertaining." Duncan: I see. Roderick: Okay, let's move down here. Duncan wrote that, "Ed loves to style his hair, to do laundry, and work out at the gym." If you use a word like "to" to introduce a series, you only have to use it once. The same thing goes for articles like "the" and "a", and posessive pronouns like "his", "her", and "their". So you can change it to, "Ed loves to style his hair, do laundry, and work out at the gym." Or, you can use the word all three times. For example, you could say, "Ed cares a lot about his hair, his muscles, and his clothing." So use it three times, or use it once - just don't use it twice, or you'll be arrested by the grammar police. Anyway, moving along. Over here, Duncan wrote that, "Howard promised Daisy he never called or talks to other girls." When you're using parallel structure to list verbs - like "call" and "talk" - they all have to be in the same tense and form. Here, "call" is in the past tense, but "talk" is in the present tense. It has to be one or the other. Either he never called or talked to other girls, or he never calls or talks to other girls. See? Duncan: That's excellent! Roderick: Now, down here, you wrote, "Michelle yelled at Andre, but she was ignored by him." "Yelled" is an active voice verb, while "was ignored" is in the passive voice. That's another no-no. Sentences are clearer when all the verbs are in the same voice. In this case, active voice sounds better: "Michelle yelled at Andre, but he ignored her." Now, this is where it starts to get tricky. You see this sentence? "Maria not only loves to go shopping, but also coleslaw and drinking fruit punch." Duncan: Gee, it does sound a bit confusing. Roderick: I know what you're trying to say, but your word choice needs to be consistent. So, you could say, "Maria loves not only going shopping but also eating coleslaw and drinking fruit punch." In this case, you're using verbs to describe the things that Maria loves to do. Or, you could abandon the verbs altogether, and say, "Maria not only loves shopping, but also coleslaw and fruit punch." This way, all the things she loves are nouns. Comprendo? Duncan: Yep, I think I've got it now. Roderick: Great. Now, fix those mistakes, and we'll send it to the GoReal network right away. Duncan: All right! (Two days later) Duncan: Roderick! GoReal responded to my letter! Roderick: You got a letter back from GoReal already? Duncan: Yep. See for yourself. (Roderick reads the letter) Roderick: "Dear Mr. Duncan, since we decided to cancel The Real Husbands of Vancouver, we have received thousands of angry letters. Yours, however, displayed a mastery of the English language rarely seen among our fans. With this in mind, we have decided to keep The Real Husbands on the air for at least a few more seasons in order to provide programming that appeals to the educated, discerning audience that we've been trying to reach for decades." (As Roderick reads, Duncan jumps up and down with excitement) Duncan: Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy! They're gonna keep my favorite show on the air! I'm so excited! Roderick: Educated? Intellectual? The Real Husbands of Vancouver is like the dumbest thing on TV! All those people do is act stupid and fight with each other! (30 minutes later, Duncan and Roderick are watching the show on TV) Voice on TV: Hey, man, we've got a circumstance over here! Duncan: Oh no he didn't! (Duncan and Roderick give each other a high five) Quiz Category:GoAnimate V1 Wiki Category:Grammar Videos